Church of Santa María de Loreto, Achao

{{Infobox UNESCO World Heritage Site

| WHS = Church of Achao

| image = 08. Achao, Isla de Quinchao (34).JPG

| image_upright = 1.2

| caption = Achao's Church facade

| location = Achao, Quinchao, Chiloé Province, Los Lagos Region, Chile

| part_of = Churches of Chiloé

| criteria = {{UNESCO WHS type|(ii), (iii)}}(ii), (iii)

| ID = 971-001

| coordinates = {{coord|-42.47178|-73.491032|type:landmark_region:CL-LL|name=Achao's Church|format=dms}}

| year = 2000

| area = {{convert|0.165|ha|acre|abbr=on}}

| locmapin = Chiloé#Chile Los Lagos#Chile

| map_caption =

}}

The Church of Santa María de Loreto de Achao ({{langx|es|Iglesia de Santa María de Loreto de Achao}}) is a Roman Catholic church located in Quinchao Island's largest town, Achao. Often referred to as the Church of Achao ({{langx|es|Iglesia de Achao}}), is within the Diocese of Ancud, and was built around 1740 when Chiloé Archipelago was still a part of the Spanish Crown possessions.{{cite book |title=Postulación de las iglesias de Chiloé para su inclusión en la lista del patrimonio mundial ante la UNESCO |url=http://www.cceproyectos.cl/uvic/wp-content/docs/docs_pdf/libros_y_documentos/11.%20CMNcuaderno29.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220526043412/https://www.cceproyectos.cl/uvic/wp-content/docs/docs_pdf/libros_y_documentos/11.%20CMNcuaderno29.pdf |url-status=dead |archive-date=May 26, 2022 |language=Spanish |last=Consejo de Monumentos Nacionales |year=2003 |publisher=Consejo de Monumentos Nacionales |location=Santiago of Chile |isbn=956-7953-00-7 }}

The Achao church is one of the oldest traditional Chiloé churches built in the 18th and 19th centuries, and survives almost intact from de Jesuit mission era.{{cite book

|title=The Jesuits II: cultures, sciences, and the arts, 1540–1773, Volume 2

|chapter=Cultural Convergence in the Chiloé Archipiélago

|first=Gauvin Alexander |last=Bailey

|editor1-first=John W. |editor1-last=O'Malley |editor2-first=Gauvin Alexander |editor2-last=Bailey |editor3-first=Steven J. |editor3-last=Harris |editor4-first=Frank |editor4-last=Kennedy|year=2006 |pages=905 |publisher=University of Toronto Press |location=Toronto |isbn=978-0-8020-3861-6 }} It belongs to a group of 16 iconic wooden churches that were declared as a UNESCO World Heritage Site under the Churches of Chiloé's denomination{{cite web

|author=UNESCO |title=Convention concerning the protection of the world cultural and natural heritage |work=World Heritage Committee, Twenty-fourth session, Cairns, Australia

|url=https://whc.unesco.org/archive/2000/whc-00-conf204-21e.pdf |format=PDF

|date=2001-01-16 |accessdate=2011-10-09}} because of their unique form of wooden architecture known as the Chilota School of Religious Architecture on Wood.{{cite book

|title=Arte latinoamericano del siglo XX: otras historias de la historia

|first=Rodrigo |last=Gutiérrez Viñuales |language=Spanish

|publisher=Prensas Universitarias de Zaragoza |location=Zaragoza |year=2005 |pages=378 |isbn=978-84-7733-792-8}}